Never give up
You see these three words in school every day. Your teachers encourage you to exhibit it because you are more likely to overcome your challenges if you choose to keep going. In this day and age, it is important to be resilient, but what does it mean to embody a never-give-up spirit? How do we dig deep into our reserves of determination and grit our teeth to keep going?
This book aims to explore the value of perseverance through language. As you go through exercises that serve to sharpen your reading comprehension skills, you will learn how never to give up from many animals and famous people. You will gather tips and insights on how you can train yourself to be more resilient. After all, resilience is like a muscle you can train.
I hope that you will enjoy this foray into resilience.
Love,
Mr Heng
Growth Mindset
First things first.
How do we cultivate a resilient attitude? It boils down to having a growth mindset. You may have heard your primary school teachers tell you about the growth mindset. To jog your memory, if we have a growth mindset, it means that we believe that we can train our brain to work better and more efficiently. This strong self-belief enables us to view challenges as learning opportunities instead of obstacles or threats.
It is not easy to grow our mindset, but it is not impossible either. First, we must train our mind to focus on our commitment and effort instead of the results. We must tell ourselves that it is normal to make mistakes. When we feel down and embarrassed about making mistakes, we should remind ourselves of the power of YET. Instead of wallowing in negativity, we should tell ourselves, “I have not mastered this YET.”
Adding this simple word to our self-talk is a useful way to remind ourselves to NEVER GIVE UP and keep trying.
Never give up.
So, as you can see, it all begins with your mindset. You have to first master the power of YET and embrace the growth mindset. Believe that you have the ability to learn new things and not feel disappointed when you make mistakes. When you give yourself the permission to learn, you will find within yourself the power to pick yourself up after setbacks.
There is a famous Japanese saying that goes, “Fall down seven times, stand up eight”. This is the never-give-up spirit. No matter how many times you get knocked down, you get up again and keep trying.
In short, the more you try, the more resilient you will be. Remember: resilience is like a muscle you can train.
To never give up is to be resilient. It is useful to learn the synonyms for “resilient” so that we can use them to help us form positive self-talk statements.
Write down the word that has the closest meaning to that of resilience from these authentic World Cup 2022 examples.
Despite being down by one goal, the tough-as-nails Japanese team never despaired during their match with Germany. They were rewarded with a late comeback, with goals from Ritsu Doan and Takuma Asano seeing them win Germany 2-1 eventually. (Answer: tough-as-nails)
Similarly, in the match against Spain, Japan initially fell behind by a goal. The tenacious Japanese only had possession of the ball for 18% of the time but fought hard to make their limited opportunities count. They scored two goals in quick succession during the second half. (Answer: tenacious)
Argentina shockingly lost against Saudi Arabia in their first match. But they doggedly gathered their wits and played well together to win Mexico in the second match. (Answer: doggedly)
Australia was another stellar example of resilience. After losing to France, they persistently displayed their fitness and skills to win their other two matches against Tunisia and Denmark. (Answer: persistently)
Japan, Argentina and Australia bounced back from their setbacks. How about you? Describe a time when you played sports and never quit even though you were on the losing end.
The never-give-up spirit is best illustrated on the soccer field. It is not over until the final whistle is blown. Likewise, you have a long journey ahead of you. Setbacks would not prevent you from attaining your goals unless you let them.
Now that you know “tough”, “tenacious”, “doggedly” and “persistently” are synonymous with “resilience”, use them to form positive self-talk statements:
I will be as tough and tenacious as __________.
I will doggedly and persistently pursue my goal of _________.